Alright, like many college students I originally thought repealing the income tax might just be a good idea. Force the government to cut waste, give my parents back some cash (which will in turn likely benefit me) and it would only force the government of Massachusetts to become more efficient.
Wrong. Today I had my first official meeting as a student senator at my college. While waiting for the committee meeting to begin we began discussing the ballot question. I was shocked to learn from a fellow senator (the chair of my school's Budget and Finance Committee) that fees are set to increase another four thousand dollars as early as next year should this question pass. I cannot believe that funding cuts would come at the level of higher education, rather than programs that are overstaffed and/or over funded, or a cut altogether of programs that have failed/are failing, etc. But no, instead it seems the cuts will be in the state system of higher education. Logically, I don't see how it makes all that much sense. Yes, state schools will still be cheaper in comparison, but a raise of that extent, especially that quickly, will certainly prevent many of those who cannot afford anywhere but a state school to suddenly not being able to afford a four year school period.
Add in this economic mess, and it will likely have to go up even more than that 4,000 dollar estimate, not to mention all the cuts that would happen elsewhere in the education system. It simply will not help to cut even more funds from the government at this time.
After learning how this will likely affect the higher education system of this state (perhaps one of the best state systems in this country) I will not be voting yes on question 1 on November 4th. I ask you all to join me, but ultimately that is your decision to make. Do all the research you can, as I will continue to do on all the ballot questions.
Remember, the Massachusetts voter registration deadline is October 13th. Get registered and vote November 4th, no matter what your opinion. Participation and inclusion is what we need in politics. Our voter turnout rate is awful compared to other modernized countries, let's fix that starting now.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Posts
4 comments:
More scare tactics. No official statement has been made by the legislature that states where if any cuts will be made. It would make life easier for both side if they did then we could argue the merits of the cut. Next time you hear that the sky is falling ask the person who said it to document the statement. This includes the newspapers and visual press. Otherwise this is an exercise in media manipulation that you are repeating.
ncitizen-
This is the budget and finance chair of the student senate looking at how the UMass system is funded. Guess where a large percentage of those funds come from?
Income tax. Take away the income tax and the school loses that proportion of funding, leading to a fee increase as soon as next year as high as 4,000 dollars. The Massachusetts state system schools are already given the least amount of funding (as of last year) than any other state system in the country. Add in development costs many schools in the system will be undergoing in the near future or have already begun (Salem State and UMass Boston for a couple of examples) and the income tax deduction is going to hurt even more.
Hello Dan. I would like you to post that information that you site about how your school's funding comes from the income tax. Also you have to understand the state budget is determined by the legislature. They choose where to make cuts or where to give more funding. This will cause a show of the true nature of the legislature. I understand your concern but realize the government still rakes in about 9-11 billion in non tax income every year. go to mass.gov/legis and check out the 2009 budget.
francesco-
Point is regardless there are going to be numerous cuts. Losing 20% of government revenue is going to force painful cuts. Our public transport system is in tremendous debt, we have one of the best state education systems in the country, yet in comparison to other states it is underfunded, and the use of a basically fee-based tuition is absurd. A tuition waiver waives 1700 dollars off of the cost of attendance at UMass, about 10% off on average. Compare that to other states and you will be shocked at how little aid that gives to the state's residents.
As I said in my article, I learned of this information from the current chairperson of my school senate's budget and finance committee. I have no documents (yet) to back up or demonstrate this claim, but I am looking into it.
Post a Comment